Part 3

She aroused herself at these words, and looking up, saw a child standing there before her. She was regarding her sister somewhat curiously, and somewhat pitifully too; the latter, child as she was, did not fail to notice the pale face and dark-ringed eyes. She approached the older girl, throwing her arms round her neck and kissing her gently. ‘What is the matter, _caro_?’ she asked in her soft liquid Italian. ‘Have you one of your headaches again, sister? Let me comfort you.’

‘I have something more than headache, Lucrece—some pain that no soft words of yours can charm away. Run away down-stairs, child; I am not fit to talk to you now.’

‘Please, Genevieve, I would rather stay with you.’

Genevieve looked out again across the landscape, lit here and there now by twinkling lights, reflected from the happy firesides, till it was too dark any longer to see aught but the ghostly shadows.

‘Lucrece!’ she exclaimed suddenly, ‘come here.’

The child hesitated for a moment, and obeyed, taking her sister’s cold damp hand in her own, and waiting for her to speak.

‘Do you remember, Lucrece, the Golden City I used to tell you about when you were a little one, the blessed place far away, where there is no strife and no care, and every heart can rest?’

‘Yes, I remember, sister.’

‘And should you care to go with me?’

‘O yes, please. I would go anywhere with you and not be afraid.’

‘Then you shall go. When you go to your room to-night, do not take off your clothes, but lie awake till I come for you. Only, mind, if you say a word of this, you will not see the beautiful city.’

Through the rest of the hours, Genevieve moved about mechanically, getting through the evening meal she scarcely knew how. Gradually time passed on, one by one the members of the household retired. It was an hour later when Genevieve entered her little sister’s room. ‘Lucrece, are you awake?’ she whispered.

‘Yes, sister; I am waiting for you. Are we going now?’

‘Yes, we are going now. Walk softly, and hold my hand. Come, let us hasten; we have far to go, and the way is weary.’

Silently they passed down the stairs, and out into the night-air, along the path to Rome, walking on till they were lost in the darkness of the night; Genevieve’s face stern and set; the little one’s, bright and hopeful.

* * * * *

Gradually the east flushed with the golden splendour of the coming dawn; the birds awoke to welcome up the sun; and after them, the laggard morn. The orb of day saw strange things as he rose in the vault of heaven: he saw two tired wayfarers sleeping on the roadside; and then, later, the anxious faces of a party gathered at a pretty villa by the Tiber. As he sank to rest again, he went down upon a party searching woods and streams far and near; and as he dipped behind the shoulder of the purple hills that night, his last red glimpse flushed the faces of the stern sad-visaged group on their way to Rome. When he rose again there were no wayfarers by the roadside, but a brother on his knees praying for his lost darlings and strength to aid him in his extremity. In Sol’s daily flight he saw hope lost, abandoned in despair; but as came each morn, he brought a gentle healing, but never Genevieve back to the Mattio woods again!

And so time passed on, bringing peace, if not forgetfulness.

(_To be continued._)

THE MONTH: SCIENCE AND ARTS.

The armour-plated ship _Resistance_ was lately the subject of some interesting and highly practical experiments at Portsmouth. The ship’s armour is four and a half inches in thickness, and this armour was backed up in various places—for the purpose of experiment—with india-rubber and asbestos, in order to see how far these materials might be relied upon as automatic leak-stoppers. A little fleet of gunboats now fired upon the vessel at short range, sending shot after shot completely through the armour, and penetrating the india-rubber backing, which measured an inch and a half in thickness. The armour when protected with an outer jacket of india-rubber fared no better. Much the same results were obtained when the shots were directed to that part of the hull of the vessel which had been provided with a backing of asbestos. The water poured so freely through the shot-holes, that they had to be plugged, to obviate the risk of the vessel sinking. In the sequel, it was unanimously agreed that both india-rubber and asbestos are quite valueless as additions to armour-plating.

Mr Mallet, of the University of Virginia, describes a most unusual phenomenon which occurred in the laboratory of that institution last winter, in the shape of explosive ice. The ice in question formed in the glass vessel of a gasogene—the familiar apparatus for charging water with carbonic acid gas. The expansion of the ice burst the vessel, after which the ice itself exploded repeatedly, and threw off fragments with a crackling sound. The effect is attributed to the pressure of the gas contained in the ice, which in the case of water would appear as simple effervescence.

Steel sleepers for railways, in lieu of the rough wooden ones formerly employed, are now coming into greatly extended use, and there are few railways where they are not being tried either experimentally or adopted permanently. In the underground workings of collieries, the maintenance of wooden sleepers forms an important item of expense, and there is every hope that steel sleepers will take their place. Mr Colquhoun, the general manager of the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company, has invented a form of steel sleeper for this particular purpose. Its sides are corrugated, and it has two projecting fangs at each end, which clutch the ground upon which it is laid. The complete weight of the sleeper and its fittings is only sixteen and a half pounds. It has been on trial in some of the South Wales collieries, and has given every satisfaction.

The _Lancet_ lately called attention to a singular tradition bearing upon infant mortality, which is widely circulated and believed in. An inquest was held upon a child five weeks old which had been found in bed suffocated beside her mother. Death was attributed to a cat getting on the bed and sucking the breath of the child. There seemed to be no evidence against the cat; indeed, the animal did not appear upon the scene. The _Lancet_ points out that death was no doubt due to overlaying by the parent, and that ‘breath-sucking’ is probably a myth, or it would ere now have been proved by observation.

An American inventor, Mr A. Hardt, has patented an arrangement for using very small slack coal as fuel for boiler-firing. The apparatus consists of two fireclay retorts—very much after the pattern of the retorts used in gas factories—which are placed immediately above the ordinary firebox. Each retort has a slide in the bottom, which can be withdrawn so as to empty it of its contents. In addition to this, each has a tube of fireclay reaching from the back part of the retort into the fire beneath. The action of the apparatus is as follows: The retorts are charged with slack, which by the heat of the fire is gradually coked, while the gas evolved from it is carried to the fire beneath. When all the gas has been driven off, the sliding bottom of the retort is withdrawn, and the coke falls into the furnace, to form fresh fuel. Two retorts are employed, so that one can always remain at work while the other is being recharged.

Mr F. Siemens has invented a new method of repairing furnace-linings while at a white-heat, which will be found very useful in steel and glass furnaces where high temperatures are necessarily employed. Under such temperatures, the sides of furnaces become softened, and quartz powder or sand projected against the soft places will readily adhere. Mr Siemens’ apparatus for compassing this end consists of a small wagon, upon which are mounted a fan and a movable pipe like a fire-hose, which can be made to direct a blast in any required direction. The nozzle attached to the pipe is introduced into the furnace-doors, and the sand is blown against the particular part of the furnace-lining which may require reparation.

The tricycle is being gradually applied to so many different purposes, that it can no longer be regarded as a means merely of healthy exercise. Traders use it largely for the delivery of small parcels; postmen in country districts depend upon it as a useful steed; the military genius of the Germans is turning it to account for the battlefield; and in many ways its value is receiving increased recognition. Its last application is in the form of an auxiliary to the fire brigade. The tricycle in question embodies the following parts: It contains a hosereel, with a quantity of hose specially constructed to wind up into a very small compass; a light double-pump fire-engine, capable of throwing twenty-five gallons of water per minute; a collapsible cistern to hold water; and a simple fire-escape with descending ropes and bag. Two men can run the tricycle at full speed, and the pedal action can afterwards be applied to pumping. The apparatus has been introduced by Mr Glenister, chief of the volunteer fire brigade of Hastings, in conjunction with Mr J. C. Merryweather of London.

The French scientific journal _La Nature_ describes and illustrates a machine for making a product which is coming into favour in various different employments under the name of wood-wool. As its name implies, this material is simply wood cut into such fine shavings that it answers many of the purposes to which wool is commonly applied. Although it was at first intended merely as a packing material, it was soon found that it had a much more extended field of usefulness. It is being employed for stuffing mattresses, as bedding for cattle, for the filtration of liquids, &c. It is elastic like horsehair, and is beautifully clean in use. The wood used by preference is Riga fir; and the machine will produce, without any necessity for skilled labour, more than fifteen hundred pounds of ‘wool’ per day of ten hours.

A cart-wheel without axle, axle-boxes, grease-boxes, and journals, seems to be something akin to an impossibility; but such a thing has been produced and exhibited at the Palace of Industry, Paris, by M. Suc. Its principle is this: Suppose that we have two grooved rails, and that we place one on the ground with its groove uppermost. In this groove we then place a number of steel balls, and above them we place the other rail with its groove downwards. Thus placed, the two grooves are facing one another, while the balls are embraced by both, so that if we push the upper rail, it will slide over the lower one, owing to the simple rotation of the balls. Imagine the two rails to be bent into a circle, with the balls still between them, and we have the principle of M. Suc’s axleless wheel. The inner part is fixed to the wagon; and the outer part, consisting merely of a grooved rim, works round it with the balls between. The thing seems to be wonderfully ingenious; but we doubt whether it would work so well as the old-fashioned form of wheel. A dusty road would try its powers to the utmost.

A somewhat elaborate plan for keeping railway foot-warmers hot has been devised by M. Tommasi, a French electrician. He proposes that after the foot-warmers have been charged with their hot solution of acetate of soda—as is commonly done on the French railways, and on some few lines in Britain—the heat should be kept up by electricity. The current to maintain this heat would be obtained from a dynamo driven off an axle of the carriage-wheels, and would be carried to all the foot-warmers throughout the train. We should think that it would be a far easier and less expensive plan to utilise some of the waste heat from the locomotive, which might be applied to the carriages by means of pipes. Has this plan ever been tried?

The cultivation of tobacco in Kent is an experiment which many agriculturists are observing with keen interest. So far, the experiment has been a success, and this in spite of very unfavourable weather, and the presence of unusual quantities of destructive pests in the shape of insects. We are told that earwigs have done a great amount of damage to the plants, for they have been chewing tobacco ever since the leaves came to maturity. According to the opinion of experts, Kent is the most suitable place in this country for the culture of tobacco. Not only is the soil suited to the growth of the plant, but the same oast houses which are used for drying the hops, and whose conical tops form such a noteworthy feature of the Kentish landscape, can be readily adapted to drying the tobacco leaves. It is thought, indeed, that hops and tobacco might be grown on the same land, and form a combined industry which would pay well.

M. l’Hoste, the French aëronaut who recently crossed the Channel by means of a balloon, made use of a piece of apparatus which seems to represent some advance in the art of aërial travelling. This contrivance was dragged in the water of the Channel from a rope attached to the balloon. By this means the aërostat was kept at a certain height above the water. But it served a further purpose than this. By its means water was drawn up into the car and utilised as ballast. Formerly, ballast once thrown out of the car could not be recovered; but by this invention it can be picked up when the balloon is travelling over water. We may note that Mr Green, one of the most celebrated balloonists, made use of an inverted cone, attached to a rope, when travelling over water. This cone acted as an anchor to the balloon, keeping it a certain height above the water, and at the same time allowing it to drift along.

A Report was lately read at the French Academy of Medicine referring to an operation which was successfully conducted by the help of a magnet. A patient who was by profession a sword-swallower at fairs, had, while at a restaurant, amused some companions by hiding a steel fork in his throat. By an accident, the fork reached to a lower point than the experimenter had reckoned for, and a surgical operation became imperative. By means of a strong magnet, the fork was moved to a position, where a simple incision soon relieved the sufferer of this unwelcome intruder.

The divers employed on the wreck of the ill-fated _Oregon_ have almost finished their labours. Six men have been at work upon the wreck, each man remaining under water for from half an hour to one hour at a time. The cargo of the vessel chiefly consisted of bales of cotton; and the divers were furnished with hooks, like workmen employed in the same business on dry land, with which they could grasp and handle the bales. These were attached to steam pulleys, and hauled on board the wrecking vessel. To get at the mail-room, the side of the submerged vessel had to be blown in with dynamite, but much of the mail-matter was spoilt by the water before this was done. The divers report that the vessel is fast breaking up; her bow has fallen over into the sand, and she is broken in two between the mainmast and the foremast, although some of her spars are still visible above water.

Dr H. J. Fox announces in the _St Louis Medical Journal_ that creosote is almost a certain cure for erysipelas, for he has treated some hundreds of cases with only one fatal result. The affected parts are kept constantly covered with cloths soaked in a solution of creosote in water—six to twenty drops of creosote to one ounce of water; or a poultice may be formed by stirring ground elm into the solution so as to make a paste.

At the Birmingham Art Gallery, a new method of illuminating the pictures is being tried. In the centre of the room is a suspended ring of ninety-six Swan incandescent lamps, each of twenty candle-power. Within this ring is a series of silvered glass reflectors bent to such a curve as will insure the pictures being well illuminated without any reflection from their surfaces. The arrangement has been devised by Messrs Chamberlain and Hookham.

A Report has recently been published by Mr Verbeck, who was deputed to inquire into the origin and character of the terrible volcanic outburst at Krakatoa, in the Straits of Sunda, two years ago. He calculates that the amount of matter ejected from the volcano was equal to a mass measuring at least ten cubic miles, and that the velocity with which this matter was thrown into the atmosphere was greater than the projecting power of the biggest of big guns. He considers that the ejected matter must have reached a height of thirty miles; that is, about six times the height of the highest mountain in the world. The explosions were heard over a fourteenth part of the earth’s surface; and an atmospheric wave travelled from the scene of disturbance, and spread itself over the surface of the globe in thirty-six hours.

We are glad to see that a Society for the Protection of Birds has been instituted in New York. It seems to be akin to the Plumage League recently incorporated in our own country, while its aims are more comprehensive. Its chief object is to protect birds not used for food from destruction for mercantile purposes, and it will also endeavour to secure and publish information relative to the present enormous destruction of birds for the purposes of dress, decoration, and general adaptation to fancy articles. It will also point out in its teachings the bad results which must in time accrue to agriculture from the wanton destruction of birds which prey upon insect life. The robbing of birds’ nests and the destruction of eggs will also be discouraged by the Society.

Among the papyri which have recently been brought to Vienna from El Fayoum was one which, according to those who have deciphered it, mentioned the existence of a city in Lower Egypt which seems to have completely vanished. The document in question is a papyrus four feet long by one foot wide. It contains a marriage contract between one Theon and his bride Maria, with the signature of witnesses and a notary. All these people are described as belonging to the city of Justianopolis. No mention of this place can be found among any lists of places which exist. The papyrus is supposed to date from the sixth century.

The dispute as to the permanence or non-permanence of water-colour drawings has received a fresh contribution from the pen of Mr E. A. Goodall, whose father engraved a certain drawing of Turner’s which is now in the national collection. It had been pointed out, as a proof of the fugitive nature of the pigments which the great painter employed, that many details which appear in the engraving in question are not now visible in the original drawing. Mr Goodall, however, says that these details never were visible in the painting, it being the custom of Turner, when proofs were submitted to him for approval, to touch up those proofs and to introduce new effects—clouds, figures, &c., which were not in the original work.

Mr W. A. Gibbs, whose name in connection with hay-drying apparatus will be remembered, has lately turned his attention to a machine for ‘withering’ tea after the leaves have been curled and twisted in the rolling-mill. This is brought about by submitting the damp leaves to a current of dry air, which speedily desiccates the mass. The machine consists of a revolving fan in an iron casing mounted on a pair of wheels, with a small coke-fire in a box in front of it. There is a hand-wheel to drive the fan, and handles attached to the casing, so that the contrivance can readily be moved from place to place. There is an inlet and outlet for the air, the latter passing over the fire. In front of the inlet there is a cage, in which are placed lumps of chloride of calcium, a salt which has the property of absorbing all moisture within its reach, and which when saturated can easily be restored to its former state by heating. It can thus be used over and over again, so that first cost is the only expense. By this apparatus a dry air can be delivered without the employment of any excessive heat, and such conditions give the best results in the desiccation of tea. Mr Gibbs has also devised a machine for the rapid drying of fibrous materials, which will doubtless be found valuable in many branches of trade and manufacture.

A TALE OF TWO KNAVERIES.

IN FOUR CHAPTERS.—CONCLUSION.

Uncle Franklin drew towards his end. It soon became evident that that grim churchyard experiment which he had suggested would in his case be entirely unnecessary. As he sank lower and lower, and the cruel, icy grasp clutched his labouring heart more often and more fiercely, Lucy found herself almost a fixture at his side. He could hardly bear her absence, however short; and when the fits of palpitation were upon him, he seemed to hold on to life by her hand alone. He would talk to her when he was able—talk of business, nothing but business and money, always money, until the gold seemed to jingle in her brain as though it were the inside of a till. It was very trying and wearing; but tenderness of heart and compassion for this unloved and desolate old money-worshipper, whose idol had failed him at his need, this spoiler whom a hand more ruthless than his own was spoiling, kept her staunch to her post. She thought little of her expectations, and that only for her husband’s sake; in the presence of this aimless, endless money-babble from the lips of a suffering and dying man, the idea of her possible and probable inheritance had grown almost distasteful to her; and Uncle Franklin had not as yet broached the subject of his will.

There came, however, a day when, with the last words he ever spoke, he for the first time broke his silence in this respect. The doctor had paid his daily visit, and had gone away with that shake of the head and significant look which tells that human skill has done its utmost. The patient was lying in a half-doze, and Lucy was sitting by the bedside, when he suddenly opened his eyes and fixed them full upon her. ‘It’s nearly over, my girl,’ he said. ‘You have done your duty by me, and I thank you. You’ll find I have kept my promise. When the time comes, send to my solicitor, Blackford of Southampton Buildings—he’ll know what to do.’ He closed his eyes after speaking these words, and seemed to sleep again. That night he died, quietly and without a struggle. It was in the third week after the making of the second will.